LAKEPORT, Calif. – With several great sponsors, the stages at this year’s Lake County Fair will host improved talent, while also maintaining the fair’s unwritten policy of supporting local acts and attractions.

The fair runs Thursday, Aug. 30, through Sunday, Sept. 2.

Thanks to help from Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Mediacom, and Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino, fair organizers have searched out and booked some of the best acts available in Lake County.

Nationally touring blues act Twice As Good will join other well known local bands like the LC Diamonds, playing Thursday; the Snake Alley Band, playing Friday; The Uncalled Four, playing Saturday afternoon; and the Mark Weston Band, playing Sunday afternoon, all on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital stage.
 
Twice as Good will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. immediately following the Lake County Talent Competition.

A fast-paced, rocking blues act, Twice As Good, is led by local father and son Richard and Paul Steward.

Twice As Good has toured all over the United States, including a gig at the 2009 Chicago Blues Festival.

In 2010, Twice As Good won the “Last Band Standing Competition,” and was named the “Best New Blues Band” by the West Coast Blues Society. Charlie Musselwhite called Twice As Good “the real deal.”

Besides being well known touring musicians, Richard and Paul Steward are members of the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks.

Sunday’s major stage event, the Fiesta Latina, is presented by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino on the Sutter Lakeside Hospital Stage.

Irma Lopez will open the fiesta at 3 p.m., followed by Los Amantes del Ritmo at 5:30 p.m. They will be followed by the return of Banda la Tequirera, which will close out the evening.

Other local musical acts will play the Mediacom Stage, including Travis Rinker, who has been called “the next Eric Clapton,” Short Stax, Village-Stone & Day, Barrish with Sommers.

The Mediacom Stage also will feature karaoke on Saturday afternoon, presided over by DJ Ken Steely.

Regular admission prices for the 2012 Lake County Fair are unchanged from 2012. Prices are $10 for a regular ticket, $6 for a senior over age 60 and $6 for children ages 6 through 11.

Children under 6 years old are admitted free every day. Children through age 11 are admitted for $3 on Thursday, Aug. 30 only, for “Kid’s Day.”